


Any Time You Ask For Me

by skypirateb



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-31
Updated: 2012-03-31
Packaged: 2017-11-02 19:24:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/372511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skypirateb/pseuds/skypirateb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hestia is sick; Hades decides to look after her. Modern(ish) Day AU. Written for daasvedanya's birthday ♥</p>
            </blockquote>





	Any Time You Ask For Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [daasvedanya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/daasvedanya/gifts).



Hades was a good student, at least in terms of high school. He showed up to his classes, he paid attention, he did his homework, he kept good marks. That said, he didn't necessarily enjoy all his subjects, and the less he enjoyed something the greater the temptation became to abandon that subject's homework in favour of the NES or his old toy box that now housed all of the comic singles he had accumulated over the years.

So while it wasn't _typical_ for him to be hunched over the table in the morning, rapidly trying to fill in a worksheet over breakfast, it certainly wasn't unheard of. 

This morning he was trying to speed-read chapters nine and ten of _The Scarlet Letter_ and cobble together some passable comprehension answers for his second period English class. He had a fluctuating love/hate relationship with English—usually how much he cared depended on things like how much he liked the teacher or the text more than the actual subject.

He was just trying to bluff his way through question three ("Explain the significance of the burial imagery in chapter 9") when his mother walked in.

"Your sister's not going to school today," she announced, walking over to the wall-mounted phone that hung by the pantry. Hades looked up, his mouth half-full of cereal.

"What?"

"Hestia's sick, dear." Rhea flicked through the contacts book briefly before dialing the number of Hestia's middle school. "She has a fever and she's congested. She has cello today, too; I'll have to call Mrs. Sahlberg as well..."

While his mother was busy on the phone, Hades abandoned his homework and his breakfast and slipped out of the room. 

The curtains were still drawn shut in Hestia's room. He closed the door gently behind him and padded over to the bed.

"Hes?" A muffled noise issued from the pile of blankets. Hades pulled the blankets back to find Hestia curled up in the foetal position, her old Kermit plush toy clutched tightly against her chest. "Are you okay?" She gave a slight groan and shook her head.

"'m sick. Ca'I've a hug?"

"Sure." Hades sat down on the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb his sister's cat, Evie, and leaned over to wrap his arms around her. Hestia patted his shoulder with one hand as best she could and cuddled against his chest. 

"Mom thinks I've the 'flu," she said with a yawn. 

"Oh yes?"

"Yeah. I don't want to miss cello," she pouted. 

"Mom's already on the phone to Mrs. Sahlberg and the school. I don't think you'll be better by four, Hes."

"Boo." She wriggled up to prop herself up on her pillow. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair was disheveled and unbrushed. "Could you go 'round to her house after school and get the sheet music for this week?"

"I'd rather skip school and hang out here," Hades told her.

"I know," she sighed, "but Mom'll make you go."

"She most certainly will," Rhea said, walking into the room before Hades had a chance to reply. "Hades, go and finish your breakfast. Your sister needs to rest."

"But Mom—"

"I know you want to stay home but we're not going through this again. You're not _both_ having a day off just because _one_ of you is sick."

"I'm sick!" Hades protested. He gave a weak, reedy, fake cough. "See?"

Rhea arched an eyebrow, but there was a smile tugging at one corner of her mouth. "Nice try. Come on, you're going to have to take the bus today and you'll miss it if you don't hurry."

Hades screwed up his nose. He hated the bus almost as much as he hated leaving Hes sick at home. "Fine." He pulled her into another tight hug. "I'll get back as soon as I can," he muttered in her ear.

"Have a good day at school," Hestia replied, as if she hadn't heard him. 

"Get better soon." Under their mother's watchful eye, he waved goodbye and went to get ready for school.

* * *

Hades hated taking the bus; it was too loud and and the driver wasn't particularly conscientious about his passengers when they had to turn corners. Still, at least he didn't have to do his homework on the bus today.

When the bus stopped at the school, Hades hung back before getting off almost last. He loitered around the stop, dragging his feet to look the part of the belligerent student. He waited until the bus had driven off and the last of the stragglers were inside the gate before turning around and walking quickly in the opposite direction. 

If he was fast, the walk home should only take thirty minutes. He wasn't worried about having an X on his attendance record. Even if his mother refused to write a note of explanation (which she would) Hades had long ago learnt how to forge his father's signature and could do a passable imitation of his handwriting. One of the few perks to having a dad that worked out of town, he figured. And he was smart enough to catch up on any work he missed by himself. The real trick was going to be not getting caught before he got home.

He zipped his jacket up against the biting November air and strode off.

* * *

He got home without too much trouble, though he took a slightly longer, quieter route.

When he reached their block, Hades took at seat at the bus stop to work out a plan of attack. Rhea always left the bedroom windows open in the morning to air out the rooms. Hestia's would be sealed shut today, but not his own. There had been dozens of times he had clambered in and out of his window with the help of the oak tree that housed their old tree fort, so that wouldn't be a problem. He did have to get into the backyard without Rhea seeing him, though. 

What time did the neighbours leave for work? Eight-thirty? It was almost nine, he should be in the clear.

He strolled down the street casually with his chin up and eyes forward. As long as he _looked_ like he was doing what he should be there wouldn't be any problems. 

He unlatched the neighbours' gate and pushed it closed behind him. He walked across the lawn and slipped around the back of the house where he could see into his own backyard over the fence. 

Rhea was in the kitchen finishing up the morning's dishes. Hades waited until she disappeared back into another part of the house before he scrambled over the fence.

The yard was deserted: it was a cold morning, so Rhea had let Hades' dog inside. Hades hoped he wasn't up in his room. Tahrao would make a fuss before Hades could get to Hestia if that was the case. 

He dashed over to the old oak and climbed up into the tree house. It had been several years since either Hades or Hestia had used it regularly and it had fallen into disrepair. Still, the ladder had its uses. 

He looked over to the house and sure enough, his bedroom window was open. Moving carefully, Hades shuffled along the branch that extended towards his window ledge. At one point his hand slipped and he swore as it scraped over a sharp sapling branch. It wasn't the first time he had fleetingly wished his Superman t-shirt endowed him with Clark Kent's powers, but he pushed the thought quickly to the back of his mind as he lined up the jump across to the sill.

He made the jump easily, but not without cracking his knee on the edge of the window sill. He bit back a virulent curse and clambered into his room. 

Hades shrugged off his backpack and lay on the floor on his back, catching his breath. Okay. Homestretch. Now he just had to hope Rhea wasn't checking on Hestia.

He grabbed a selection of comics off his floor and opened the bedroom door a crack. He held his breath, listening carefully. As far as he could tell, the second floor of the house was silent. It sounded like Rhea was downstairs tidying up the living room. Heart pounding, he opened his door as quietly as possible and stepped into the hall. He tip toed across the floor, moving to avoid the creaky boards, and opened the door to Hestia's room.

As he hoped, Hestia was sitting up in bed, awake and reading.

"Brother!" she gasped. "You actually managed it!"

"Yeah I did." His expression broke into a wide grin. 

"Hop in, quick." She pulled back the covers and shuffled over, nudging Evie along the bed. "Mom thinks I'm sleeping."

Hades kicked off his sneakers and unzipped his jacket. The jacket he slung around Hestia's shoulders. "There you go, that'll keep you warm." He dumped the comics on top of the duvet and climbed in under the covers. "Now you can have company all day."


End file.
